This shock and revelation had continued until the final student, Jeannie. She had also possessed seven Boss Cores, and the Head Teacher did not experience any surprise regarding this, since everyone before her had already possessed Boss Cores. Only a Mutated Core was missing.
Originally, when the Head Teacher had seen the seven Boss Cores, he had thought that the whole Party had hunted only seven altogether during the whole day. However, discovering that everyone had a total of seven Boss Cores had put him in a lot of unexpected surprise.
Afterward, once Jeannie had finished submitting the Cores, the Party boarded the vehicle and started their journey towards the Academy. They had worked hard the whole day; finally, they had finished their first Expedition.
Currently, they only had to wait for the results tomorrow morning. Depending on that result, his name and Status would increase and spread.
Before night could fall, they had all reached the Academy. The location was bustling with murmurs and discussions regarding how they had hunted the Monsters and how many Cores they had collected. While looking around at a lot of bright faces, a few were dejected by their performance during the first Dungeon visit.
Afterward, Max said goodbye to his Party and left the place. They had all divided the Materials while traveling on the vehicle, so there was no need to remain in a Party anymore. Each person would go their own way until the next Expedition or other Party activities, which was also based on the situation. If they found someone better, the previous Party members would get replaced.
Max was content with the performance of the first Dungeon Expedition. What he had planned a few days before, that same result might be achieved tomorrow. This had been confirmed by the reaction of the Head Teacher. If he were to guess based on his reaction, they had collected more Boss Cores than the others. He was not sure about the individual Ranking, but his Party definitely stuck out as oddballs. This would definitely put his name on notice. People would start to pay attention to his name hereafter, which was what he needed. Slowly, he would reveal his awakened Strength as he grew stronger.
If he were to suddenly show all of his Strength, the people who were vying for his Land would change their plans accordingly to deal with him. However, he was currently considered a mediocre Talent, so he would keep that Status. Slowly, he would make a name for himself not as a "talented person" but as a "hard-working person."
Max had reached the Dorm. Afterward, having freshened up, he took some rest to relax. Since he had expended his Mana too many times, the constant recovery had put his body under serious stress. Therefore, he could only lie on the cot for some time and close his eyes before dinner.
However, when he woke up again, it was already 6 in the morning. He had slept through the night without having dinner. The whole day's hassle had caused his body to automatically shut down. Although he had missed dinner, he felt fresh and new; there was no pain or anything on his body. The recovery from the long sleep had been very good.
The regular class would begin at 9, so he simply sat on the bed and started to read some books regarding Mana Conservation. Yesterday, he had succeeded at some level with the technique he had read about in another book. That was a good technique; he might have to further improve upon that technique more. Currently, Max was reading a different book. Inside, it mentioned different techniques regarding how Mana could be managed perfectly and precisely on each attack, without him needing to grab the Mana thread to reduce excessive usage.
He read a few points which did not make any sense, closed the book, and started to prepare for class. Some complex concepts must be explained by teachers to be understood. One could not simply read a book and learn, especially at the early stages. Max did not possess the Skill to comprehend complex concepts.
Around 8, he donned the first-year uniform, which was a gray tunic with white patterns. On his right chest, the Academy emblem was embroidered, displaying an eagle with four wings and a triple head. It was the [Pelagianism Academy] Crest. This had immense influence over the Kingdom, even within the King's manor.
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Since Max had missed dinner last night, he was very much hungry. Afterward, he consumed one and a half plates of food for breakfast at his regular spot. Inside the Canteen, very few students were present, especially the first-years. They must have had breakfast early or skipped it entirely due to anxiety, since the results would be posted at 8:30 in the morning. He guessed the latter would be much of the reason. Everyone had worked hard and had wanted to rank higher on their first Expedition, which would lead to dominating the first-years. The teachers would consider every position available, like [Student Council President] and [Disciplinary Committee Head], and other positions would open up for the top students.
This would definitely boost their names in the Academy, and it would also boost their family Status on the political ground. The King's Council would notice a family simply from the perspective of the Kingdom's future. The stronger the future generations were, the safer the Kingdom would be from nearby kingdoms. Therefore, everyone competed for the top 10. Even though it was simply their first E-Rank Dungeon Raid, people would notice those who placed in the top 10. However, Max knew he was not going to place in the top 50, forgetting about the top 10. What he eagerly expected was his Team Ranking. He wanted to achieve the top 10 in the Team Ranking; he was even expecting to be the Number 1 Party on this Expedition.
The reason being, everyone who aimed for the Individual Ranking had tried to hunt more Monsters, since those who landed the killing blow on the Monster could claim ownership of the Core. Thus, with this, there would be competition even between Party members. People had mostly avoided cooperating with each other, even to team up on a Boss Monster. By spending time hunting a Boss, they could hunt a dozen normal Monsters; that was the mindset of people who aimed for the Individual Ranking. Currently, this thought had spread very widely. Therefore, with everyone else following this trend, Max had managed to convince his outcast Team to search for Bosses instead. This had worked out rather remarkably, far exceeding what he had expected.
Max had finally finished breakfast and walked out of the Canteen. The place was devoid of any students. Guessing the time, it was almost 8:30, so everyone had to be in the Announcement Hall. Max decided to head there as well; he also wanted to see the results and learn which individuals he would be competing against in the future.
Upon entering the Hall, the entire First-Year student body had gathered, and a lot of Seniors were also present. Max slowly navigated through the crowd towards the front, stood to the side, and waited for the Teacher to post the results. While he stood silently, someone came and stood near him. Turning to see who it was, Max saw Moon standing, facing forward.
"Hello, how did the first Dungeon Expedition go?" Max asked, seeing that it was Moon.
"It went well. I expect to place in the top 30 on the Individual Ranking," Moon said without turning her head.
"Wow, that is great. Congratulations," Max wished her. Placing in the top 30 at the number one Academy in the capital was a commendable achievement. Moon was surprised by the sudden congratulations from Max; she had only speculated that she would place in the top 30 and could not know guaranteed.
"What about you? I assume top 10," she asked, turning around to see Max's reaction.
"Did I impress you that much that you put a lot of trust in me?" Max asked coyly.
"Well, are you not the famous Three-Class Awakener, the first in this world? No one has awakened three Classes at the same time. So yeah, I have very high hopes," Moon said in a mocking tone.
Max could not believe a person could change this much. A few days back, she was disgusted by him even just to show the basics of Archery. Now, she was boasting about his Three-Class Awakening. Was she planning something? What was her family name? Max did not know her family name; he only knew she was called Moon by the Archery Practical Teacher. He decided to check while viewing the Ranking. Afterward, Max did not speak; both of them simply stood for a while before the Head Teacher brought the poster with the Rankings printed on it.
The students stayed still, and the Hall fell silent. That remained until the Head Teacher attached the two different printouts to the wall. In the next second, a commotion started in the Hall. Everyone pushed forward to see their names on the Individual Ranking list, not only for their own rank, but because they were eager to see who had placed in first place and the top 10 Ranking. Some were more interested in that than their own results. Max simply stood by the side; he could wait for a minute, and once the crowd reduced, he could see his results. Moon also stood by the side, not ready to go into the crowd and get pushed around.
Soon, the students from the front started to exclaim after seeing the name on the number one spot. Max, standing by the side, could hear the name in bits and pieces, but he could make it out since everyone was speaking the same name:
Frederik Erickson.